Addiction and Mental Health - Domestic Abuse Response Team

Domestic violence can take many forms, including verbal, physical, sexual, psychological, emotional, spiritual, financial, and the violation of rights and can happen in any relationship that is based on intimacy, dependency, or trust. The Domestic Abuse Response Team (DART) offers specialized support to patients of all genders who are experiencing any form of domestic violence. Individuals do not have to be in a crisis to access DART and can request a referral at select emergency departments, urgent care centres, and maternity units. Participation is voluntary.

DART services are provided while individuals are present within the Alberta Health Services (AHS) or Covenant Health facility and are confidential, nonjudgmental, and choice-based. Once the referral is initiated, a DART responder will connect with the individual either in-person or over the phone to conduct further assessment and provide the following services based on the their needs:

• emotional support
• information and education about domestic violence
• assistance with safety planning
• information about and referrals to local supports, including financial assistance, counselling, food bank, etc.
• assistance with contacting local law enforcement and / or Children's Services
• access to safe accommodations, including emergency shelter or hotel
• transportation from AHS or Covenant Health facility to safe accommodations
• follow-up support This service is provided by AHS and AHS contracted service providers.

This service is provided by AHS and AHS contracted service providers.

Adult Day Support Program

Adult Day Programs are designed for adults over the age of 18 who may have physical and/or memory challenges or are living with a chronic illness. They play a key role in allowing people to remain living in the community as long as possible by optimizing their level of physical, spiritual, social, and emotional function. Adult Day Programs also provide respite and education for caregivers.

Continuing care services are available once you or your loved one have contacted and been assessed by a Case Manager.

Cafeteria Services

Cafeteria services offer food and beverages at Alberta Health Services facilities. Catering services and vending machines are available at some sites. Each cafeteria services site team is dedicated to creating great food, inspiring healthy eating, and providing outstanding customer service to support the health of Albertans.

**Please note hours of operation may vary from site to site.

Child Health Clinics Community

This service provides:

• immunization to infants and preschool children
• health education/counselling/support for parents
• health assessment and screening to identify health concerns
• referral to healthcare providers and community resources

Drop In for New Mothers / Families and Infants

Mothers / families can talk with a public health nurse about health issues or concerns about their infant or preschoolers (e.g., growth, nutrition, common health concerns) or parenting issues.

Emergency Services

If you have an emergency, call 911.

Emergency departments:

• take care of people that are very sick or injured on a priority basis. This means the sickest people are seen first. If you go to an emergency department for care that isn't urgent, you will not likely be seen right away.
• provide medical care, which includes assessment and treatment
• stabilize people and get them ready to transport to a higher level of care facility (if needed)
• provide follow-up care including referrals to a family doctor or specialist (if needed)

Emergency Department wait times are now available for Calgary, Edmonton, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat and Red Deer.

Get the right care when you need it, to learn more visit Know Your Options

This service may be impacted by the COVID pandemic. View the Hours of Operations to see if the location has been impacted. Visit https://ahs.ca/covid for up-to-date information.

Fluoride Protection for Toddlers

Children only need to have a few teeth to start getting fluoride. Applications are given 4 times, once every 6 months. For eligibility information visit our website.

At the appointment:

• The child sits on their parent's lap while staff apply fluoride on the child's teeth using a brush, which takes less than a minute.
• The child can eat and drink right after the treatment.
• The fluoride sticks to the teeth and protects them. It slowly wears off when the teeth are brushed.

If the child has asthma, bring his or her asthma reliever medicine to the appointment.
This provincial prevention service is available in all AHS (Alberta Health Services) zones.

General Radiography (X-Ray)

General Radiography uses x-rays to produce images of the structures inside the body, particularly bones. X-ray beams can pass through the body, but they are absorbed in different amounts depending on the density of the material they pass through.

Health Information - Access and Disclosure

In accordance with Alberta's Health Information Act, this is a service which enables the release of individually identifiable health information with or without the consent of an individual.

For detailed instructions, frequently asked questions and forms, please visit Access & Disclosure | Alberta Health Services.

Health Information / Records Management

Completes patient charts, collects data, data entry and coding, collects patient information, dictates notes, and transcribes inpatient and outpatient charts.

Healthy Beginnings Postpartum Program

Provides nursing care and support including:

• health assessments of Mom & Baby
• breastfeeding support
• information about parenting and baby care
• referrals to healthcare providers or community resources as needed

You will be contacted after you are discharged from the hospital to arrange an initial assessment.

Hospitals

To access contact information and a list of services offered, select a hospital.

Search through a complete list of progams and services, or hospital and facility information with the following:

Find Healthcare:

• Progams & Services
• Hospitals & Facilities

Immunization - Adult Services

This service provides routine immunization for adults. Suggested immunizations:

• a booster dose of diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (whooping cough)(dTap) every 10 years
• dTap vaccine for pregnant women every time they are pregnant
• Hepatitis B vaccine (HBV) for unprotected adults born in 1981 or later. Some adults born before 1981 may need this vaccine if they are at risk for hepatitis B (e.g. health problems, type of work, lifestyle, contact with the virus)
• Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine for adults up to and including age 26 years who did not get it in school.
• Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR) vaccine for adults whose immunization records do not show the recommended number of doses of measles, mumps, or rubella vaccine.
• Chickenpox vaccine for unprotected adults
• annual influenza vaccine
• pneumococcal vaccine for all adults 65 years of age and older and adults with certain health problems
• shingles vaccine for adults 18 years of age and older who have had or are going to have an organ transplant

To find out which vaccines are recommended for you and to book an appointment for immunization, call your nearest community / public health centre. If you are not sure where your nearest community / public health centre is, you can call Health Link at 811. Bring any immunization records you have to the appointment, especially if you were immunized in another province or country.

For more general information about immunization go to ImmunizeAlberta.ca, Immunizations at myhealth.alberta.ca, or call Health Link.

Immunization - Infant and Preschool Services

Alberta Health Services provides routine immunization for infants and children across Alberta. Immunizations are free of charge for infants and children who live in Alberta.

Immunizations are recommended for infants starting at 2 months of age. Routinely recommended vaccines include: diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), tetanus, polio, Haemophilus influenza type b, hepatitis B, rotavirus, meningococcal, pneumococcal, measles, mumps, rubella, varicella (chickenpox), and influenza.

For the routine immunization schedule, go to immunizealberta.ca.

Additional vaccines may be needed depending on your child’s health conditions or other risk factors.

Immunization is effective. Other than providing safe drinking water, no other health intervention works as well as immunization to reduce disease and death rates. Immunization protects whole communities. The more people who are fully immunized in a community, the safer everyone is.

Immunization is safe. It is much safer to get immunized than to get the diseases that vaccines protect against.

For more information, and to book an appointment, call your nearest community/public health centre. If you are not sure where your nearest community/public health centre is, call Health Link at 811. Bring your child’s immunization record to the appointment, especially if your child was immunized in another province or country.

For more general information about immunization, go to immunizealberta.ca,Immunizations at myhealth.alberta.ca, or call Health Link at 811.

Immunization - School Services

Each year, Alberta Health Services, Public Health reviews immunization records for students in grades 1, 6, and 9 to see what immunizations each student needs. A consent form is then sent home with an information sheet for each vaccine recommended for the student. No immunizations will be given in school without consent from a parent or legal guardian. Immunizations in this program include:

• Grades 1, 6, and 9: Any routine childhood and school vaccines that may have been missed according to a review of the students immunization record on file
• Grade 6: Hepatitis B (HBV) vaccine for students who have not already completed a hepatitis B immunization series and human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine
• Grade 9: diphtheria, tetanus, acellular pertussis (dTap) and meningococcal (Groups A, C, Y, W-135) conjugate vaccine

Laboratory Services

Effective December 5, 2022, walk-in or pre-scheduled appointments will no longer be accepted at select locations.

For information on service restrictions or to book an appointment, visit APL Appointments & Booking.

Laboratory Services provides collection of blood and body fluids for tests ordered by your doctor or healthcare provider including a comprehensive range of routine and specialized lab testing and clinical consultations:

• blood and body fluid sample collection
• biochemistry and toxicology
• electrocardiogram (ECG)
• genetics and genomics
• urinalysis
• transfusion medicine
• hematology
• coagulation studies
• microbiology
• public health testing
• serology
• surgical pathology
• cytopathology
• autopsy pathology
• student practicum training for medical lab technologists and medical lab assistants

Note: Some locations may not offer the full range of testing. To confirm availability of a specific test, contact the location.

Long Term Care

Long term care spaces are reserved for individuals who have highly complex and unpredictable health needs whose care cannot be safely provided in their own home or in supportive living

Long term care may be right for you if you have:

• Serious changes in health status requiring immediate health professional assessment
• A need for medication management and other treatments
• Conditions requiring the continued presence of a Registered Nurse and the consultative availability of rehabilitation or dietary professionals
• Unpredictable or unstable behaviour that places the individual or others at risk
• Complex end of life care needs

Visit the Alberta Health Services Continuing Care website for more information..

Lost and Found

Please call the Security Office to see if your item has been found.

New Moms Network

This service is unavailable, due to COVID-19.

Available across the Edmonton area, these sessions provide an opportunity for women to connect with other new moms and learn more about the health and development of their child.

Patient Email Well Wishes

As part of our support for patient care and comfort, friends and family of inpatients at hospital and health care facilities can send well wishes via email. Sites participating in the program will receive the message, will ensure that the message is only "well-wish" (any other type of communication will be deleted) and will arrange for delivery within 3 business days. A couple of important reminders - the electronic delivery system is not a secure connection, so please don't add any confidential information to your message. Plus the "well-wish" system does not allow for replies or confirm receipt / delivery confirmation.

Patient Food Services

Patient Food Services overarching objectives are to:

• Offer quality food and food choice, to support Patient Centered Care
• Work with the whole care team to ensure that Food Matters
• Foster a positive meal experience that results in enjoyment of meals, as well as improved satisfaction and food intake that supports recovery
• Provide menus that are based on “Canada’s Food Guide” and that are adaptable for therapeutic requirements
• Offer appealing food that encourages eating for health
• Provide meal service styles appropriate to the patient population (e.g. tray service, dining room service) and meal delivery systems that support safe high quality food served at appropriate temperatures to the correct patient / resident

PFS delivers more than 31,000 patient/resident meals each day within AHS facilities.

Patient Information

Services offered:

• responding to patient location inquires
• providing direction on a patients whereabouts

Public Health Centres

A service offered by Public Health Nurses including immunization according to the Alberta Health immunization schedule, health education/counselling/support for parents, health assessment and screening to identify health concerns, and referral to appropriate health care providers such as physicians, and community resources.

Registration

Patient Registration

• registers and pre-registers patients and collects demographic and financial information.
• registers patients for inpatient admissions, ambulatory clinic appointment, and emergency department services

School Health Nursing Services

Services include:

• immunizations
• promoting healthy school communities
• resources and support services for students, parents, and teachers
• referrals to other services

School Health Services

Services include:

• School Health Nursing
• School Dental Services

For more information visit our website.

School Oral Health Services

Services are offered to eligible schools and may include:

• fluoride varnish, provided to kindergarten, Grade 1 and Grade 2
• dental sealants, provided to Grade 1 and Grade 2

A child diagnosed with asthma must have their short acting asthma reliever medication with them to receive service.

Sexual Assault Response Team

The Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) is a team of Registered Nurses with specialized education in sexual assault care. They serve 11 Edmonton area emergency rooms 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year.The team provides compassionate, confidential, culturally sensitive, and nonjudgmental care to individuals who have been sexually assaulted in the last 7 days with or without police involvement. Care includes assessment, physical examination, testing for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and pregnancy, giving medicine to prevent STIs and pregnancy, and referrals for counselling or other healthcare services.

Sexual Assault Resources

• Sexual Assault Centre of Edmonton (SACE) Support & Information Line: 780-423-4121
• SACE Counselling: 780-423-4102
• Strathcona Sexual Assault Centre (SAFFRON): 780-449-0900
• University of Alberta Sexual Assault Centre: 780-492-9771
• Association of Alberta Sexual Assault Services (online chat also available):1-866-403-8000
• Edmonton Police Service Victim Support Services: 780-421-2217

Community Resources

• Health Link for 24/7 Health Advice: 811
• Birth Control Centre: 780-735-0010
• STI Clinic: 780-342-2300
• Boyle McCauley Health Centre: 780-422-7333
• Family Violence Info Line: 780-310-1818
• Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters: 1-866-331-3933
• Addiction and Mental Health Services: 780-427-2736
• Streetworks: 780-424-4106

Spiritual Care

Offers spiritual and emotional support for patients, families, and staff in the hospital. Services are for people of any religion or culture and may include:

• help dealing with difficult decisions or issues of life and death
• help talking about ethical concerns or problems
• bereavement (grief) counselling

Support is available through:

• compassionate staff members
• prayer, ritual, or ceremonies
• spiritual counsel
• help linking people to their faith community
• a space set aside for private prayer and services

Switchboard

These services include:

• answering incoming telephone calls
• transferring telephone calls and
• giving out authorized telephone numbers

Tuberculosis Testing

Offers free tuberculosis (TB) skin testing to eligible Albertans. The Mantoux skin test is not recommended to diagnose TB.

Testing is done at public health centres throughout the province:

• North Zone
• Edmonton Zone
• Central Zone
• Calgary Zone
• South Zone

If you are not eligible for free testing but still need to be tested there will be a charge for the test.

For travel or work related TB testing contact the Travel Health Services in your area. With the exception of Edmonton, you would contact the Immunization Business Unit to have school or work-related TB skin testing done.